Nifty News

Faithful Followers

Friday, July 11, 2008

Here's another way cool product! My friend Kristyi (yes, I spelled it that way on purpose. She can't decide if her name ends with a "y" or an "i" so I use both. Don't ask.) Anyway, my friend Kristyi emailed me a link to this website and I thought it was such a good idea, I asked the owner, Michele, if she'd send me a sample so I could review it and pass it on to you.

Have you ever been separated from a child while at a museum, zoo, amusement park, or mall? Do you remember a time when you were a child and you were separated from your parent? Those heart-stopping moments are hard to forget. Having 6 kids, I'm forever doing the head count thing. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5....Where's 6? WHO'S 6???

I remember shopping with Austin (3 years old) and Savannah (1 1/2 years old) at Toys R Us one day. On this particular trip, I had Savannah sitting in the seat of the cart. Ordinarily, I would've put Austin into the basket of the cart, but a case of temporary insanity caused me to let him walk instead. So, I'm pushing the cart along and doing my shopping and despite the glazed look in his eyes that says he's about to take off like a rocket through the store, Austin is surprisingly following along. I turn and make sure Austin is still beside me every few seconds until one time I look, and he's nowhere to be seen. I'm sure he's just walked over a little ways to look at an especially cool toy, but still my heart starts pounding as horrible little thoughts invade my mind. I turn the cart around and retrace my last several steps. No Austin. I'm getting worried and walking faster as I push the cart up and down the aisles looking for my son. I call out his name, but to no avail. Thoughts of every tragic thing that could happen race through my mind.

Then I hear over the loudspeaker, "Mrs. James, please come to the customer service desk. Mrs. James."

I don't think anything of the announcement for about five seconds and then it hits me. I rush up to the desk and sure enough, there stands Austin. After I grab him and kiss him and sufficiently embarrass him while thanking God for keeping him safe, I tell him, "Austin, honey, that was very good of you to go to the service desk and tell someone your name. Good job, sweetie. But Austin, your name is Austin Meehan. James is your middle name, honey." Of course, that was followed by the required, "Now don't EVER take off like that again!!!

Anyway, Michele, creator of SafetyTat and mother of 3, came up with the idea of SafetyTat after taking her family to an amusement/water park. As they arrived at the park, she realized there were 4 million people there and although her children were obedient, good listeners, they were still kids and she knew that it only takes a second for one to get separated in a crowd, or for one to start following another person thinking it's mom or dad. Although her husband helpfully suggested they fashion a chain gang out of duct tape to keep the family together, Michele had other plans. She grabbed a pen and wrote her cell phone number on each of the kids so if they were inadvertently separated, anyone with a cell phone could call her to reconnect parent with child. It was a great idea, but the ink washed off at the water park so Michele came up with the idea of tattoos! How awesome is that? Kids LOVE temporary tattoos! And if they're separated from you, you're just a phone call away. What a piece of mind!

Michele has a variety of really cute designs from which to choose and not only that - she has special tattoos that say, "I Have Non-Verbal Autism" and "Alert: Diabetic" among others. That's something I would have never even thought of! Clayton's godmother has an adorable daughter with autism who is non-verbal. If she were ever separated, she probably couldn't communicate to a stranger effectively.

The tattoos go on easily and they STAY on. I tried scrubbing them off my kids' arms with water and a washcloth and they stayed put. They can be removed with baby oil, but my kids insisted I leave them on. They love them!

Did you know that over 2000 kids get lost every day? 90% of families will have the heart-stopping experience of losing a child in a public place and 27% (1 in 3!) of families that visit an amusement park, will lose a child while they're there. Now that it's summer, people are going to water parks, zoos, museums, and amusement parks by the thousands. Give yourself peace of mind and keep these outings fun with SafetyTats!

And now, just enter code "6pack" to receive FREE shipping on orders placed now through July 30! PLUS, Michele is giving away one FREE pack of 30 SafetyTats! Just leave a comment on this post and I'll pick a random winner this Saturday night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And lastly, this is the final call for Melissa! Melissa, who left this answer on my blog quiz:

My almost 2 year old refuses to ride in a stroller, she has insisted on walking since the day she was capable of doing so. This means I've already had my share of "Where's Brooke?" moments. I'd feel so much better about taking her to busy places if she had a saftey tat on. Thanks!

wow- you have no idea how timely this post is. I was just worrying about this exact same thing because we're planning a family vacation to a huge amusement park and I have a 4 yr. old who doesn't like to stay by mom. I'll definitely be checking these out!

You know, every time I hear that Luvs commercial where they say that even though they're the less expensive diaper, blah blah blah? I have to laugh because when my kids were in diapers (25 and 21 years ago!!) disposable diapers were VERY expensive, and they didn't even have gathers at the sides of disposables when my oldest son was an infant. In fact, I used to have to put on a pair of plastic pants (the kind that go over cloth diapers) in order to "catch" the messy diapers, Otherwise, he would leak out the sides. Ugh. You get the idea.

Anyway, when my younger son was an infant in 1987, Luvs were THE disposable diaper, and the MOST expensive!!

So what I'm gathering from what you've said and the commercials, is that Luvs is now the "cheap-o" diaper?!? That is too funny!!

Back in "the day", if you were a cool mom if you used Luvs. They were almost a status symbol, b/c it meant you could afford the most expensive!!

How wonderful! My son does take off when he's distracted by something cool and doesn't give it a second's thought. He has scared me on more than one occasion. He is also very good at taking off things he doesn't like, so these sound perfect for him! Not to mention that my daughter has just started walking, so these would definetely be worth the peace of mind. Thanks for the info. on them.

Hey Dawn. I love the SafetyTat idea! I too have lost a child in a busy store. Thankfully another parent stood with her and talked to her until she heard me "screaming" her name across the store. What a horrible feeling!

I love the idea of SafetyTats. I remember when I didn't have children, and saw parents using a leash on their child, I would think 'how could they do that to their child'. Well now I know why. My son runs off. I never allow my son to walk while shopping - he's either holding my hand or in the cart. I'm too scared of losing him. There will come a day when he is too big to be in the cart and he'll have to walk. I will buy these.

what a GREAT idea!! we have 3 kids of almost the same age(twins and a child 9 months older) the twins arrived 10 months ago via adoption and still don't get that you have to stay with an adult, and just bolt whenever they feel like it!

Oh my goodness that is BRILLIANT! Why didn't I think of that. Just a few months ago my older daughter wandered away from my mother at Marshall's. When I heard her mom calling my child aloud, I instantly knew she lost sight of her. We found her soon after that, maybe 2 or 3 minutes went by, but it sure felt like a lifetime.

What a great idea the tattoos are! I've been thinking of getting one of those harnesses they have for kids, but I don't want my daughter to feel like she's a dog on a leash! I'm totally going to look into getting some tattoos! Thanks!

When I was 5 we had a family trip to the beach, I wasnt paying any attention to the fact that my family had went into a store and I kept walking, when i Finally noticed they werent there, I freaked out, I did find them, but I still remember that feeling. I love the Idea of safety tats! Its an awesome Idea, I have had both of my children wander off on me in quite a few occasions, they would have come in handy!!

That's a great idea! I remember getting lost when I was younger and hated it! Recently I was at a store and lost my little brother. I was practically in tears when I couldn't find him right away. Almost just as scary as being the lost child.

Dawn - the Safety Tats couldn't have COME at a better time, as we are headed a large amusement park with our 6 yr old (who has type 1 diabetes) and 4 yr old (who has language delays) next week! I'd LOVE to win some, but I'm ordering some too!!!!

I just got 120 for me at the house. and I did write up about it on my blog too. the story I shared was WAY To long to put in here. ;) http://dragonfly.kenaiwriter.net/ I think all us moms and dads have been there with a lost little one.

oh my god, this just happened to me while at Universal Studios in June. My son told my husband he had to go potty. My husband said, "go find your mom". I did not know he told him he had to go potty. So, I say, "where is Joshua". My husband takes off looking one way, I go the other. He was gone for 10 minutes. My heart stopped. I couldn't find him anywhere. I thought someone grabbed him and he was gone. 10 of the longest minutes later, he comes walking back with my husband.

I'd heard about those..but my question is...what do you use to write down the personal info? I mean..if it's a regular pen..won't that wash off, leaving just the blank tattoo? I'd love to have some though..my daughter still doesn't understand how to walk in public..it's full on running everywhere, and I seem to be falling further and further behind, haha.

I'd love to give them a try. They'd be handy for our trip to Disney at the end of the summer. My son used to absolutely refuse all tattoos (and hand stamps and the like), but then one day his little sister was really enjoying tattoos so he finally had to try. Now they're both hooked.

I have had those heart-stopping moments with my older 2 kids. With toddler #3, I broke down and got one of those backpack/leash things that I always swore was inhumane....UNTIL I HAD KIDS!! Even though my older kids know their name, phone numbers, etc....these would come in handy if, God forbid, they were unconscious or otherwise unable to communicate.

Those SafetyTats are a must have, I would love to have some to try out! When my second was just a few months old my 2.5 year old wandered off in Kohl's, those few minutes looking for her were SO frightening! Luckily a friend found her bawling in the toy section for Mommy so it was a happy ending for us, but I sure did bawl the whole way home! I never want to experience that with my youngest who is now 14 months.

Never never never let them wear t-shirts with their names on. Anyone calling them by name must know them, right? We put business cards in their pockets. Fine until the water park! The "tats" are great put in an inconspicuous place so strangers don't get your information. (can you tell I have "stranger danger " fears?!)

What a fabulous idea! My husband and I are getting ready to go to Poland and adopt our 2nd child (the first from Russia). We will be in country for 6 weeks. I was wondering how I can "mark him" should we get separated. Somehow a piece of paper in his pocket doesn't seem to make the cut-but this does!

Those looks sooo cool! My 8 year old boy is constantly disappearing when we go someplace. He sees something he wants and goes to check it out. Forgetting to tell me of course. I am always trying to watch him but I get the feeling you understand. hehehe

oh oh enter me in please I would love to have some safety tattoos that is an awesome idea even if i dont win i'm sure i will be ordering some. My 2 year old daughter managed to disappear on me once when I was trying on my wedding dress and my sister was helping me when I came out and said "well girls what do u think of my cinderella dress" my baby was MIA and scared me to death we soon found her hiding in a rack of dresses putting her baby to sleep but still she scared me... these are an awesome Idea hope i win... sasha francis in bridge city

Okay - THAT has GOT to be one THE COOLEST ideas I've seen in a long time!!! Thanks for sharing it with us! Mine are 8 & 10 and unless they're unconscious I'm pretty sure they know how to get ahold of me but I still love the idea!! VERY COOL!! I just love smart people like that that come up with awesome things to make life a little easier! I think I'll pass it along to my friends with little bitties.

What a wonderful concept! My best friend has a 5 year old who is autistic and non verbal and a 2 year old with CP and anything that will help her so she can get out of the house once in a while would be worth it! Thanks for sharing!!

As the mother of two autistic sons who just yesterday had to have Toys R Us in a Code Adam lock down due to one of them wandering off.....I think these are a great idea! It's so refreshing to see a parent who doesn't have a child on the spectrum remember those of us who do.

What an incredible, ingeneious idea! I'm diabetic, and twice as a child was separated from Mom, once because of an insulin reaction. I now have a wanderer child, and season passes to amusement/water parks. What an amazing thing this would be!

Oh yeah! Count me in! I have one wanderer in the crowd and this would save me my voice, yelping for him in the crowds ;)

On a funny note, there's quite the huge debate about Tattoos and Christianity over at Stuff Christians Like. I canNOT believe how long some of those comments were - do these people not have a gazillion other blogs to read?! :)

I'd love to have these! I had this scary experience just tonight at JCPenny!

By the way, I wish I'd had a number to call you today because it was free Slurpee day at 7-11 because today is 7/11! I know you probably couldn't do it because of the preservative thing, but I was thinking, "You know, if you had a lot of kids, today would be a great day to take them for a treat!" And it was close to 100 degrees in Denver today so it was a perfect day for a Slurpee!

Just 2 weeks ago we went to a water park and lost my 3yo even though we were sitting right there watching him. I went straight to the lifeguard because some of the water was very deep. He ended up coming back as I was talking to the lifeguard crying saying that he lost me. It was very scary because of the wave pool and the other deep water. I seen this ad in parents mag along with some other great products (when I find the book I will send you some links). I would love to try them so enter me to!

What a cool idea. My 5 year old (almost 6) is at the age where he is starting to refuse to hold our hands. He is "too big" for that. I always make him, but with a lot of fighting and grumpiness by him. And now that we have a new baby (his 2 month old sister) he finds it funny to hide on shelves and things in stores when I am distracted by her. He scares me half to death when he does this. I always find him, but I still always wonder what would happen if I couldn't. These would be awesome to have and give me a little piece of mind. Thanks for sharing the info on them.

I have a 3year old who runs away & hides because he thinks it's funny to see us run all over stores searching. I now know the code for lost child in every major store near us, because they've all been used to find our little runner. Safty Tat sounds like what we need!

Safety tats is a GREAT idea! We have had both girls fingerprinted (the local sheriff's at a community fair) and our oldest had an "i.d." made when she was in preschool, but the temp tat idea, fabulous!

that is such a cool idea. i worked for disney for 7 years and i cant tell you how many lost kids i dealt with on a daily basis. the smart parents safety pinned their number on the kids backs (where they couldn't reach it to pull it off) they should really market those things at travel agencies and hotels.

I LOVE your blog. I love my 6 pack too! I've lost my children, name anyone and I bet we've gone nutzo trying to locate the missing child...I have one who LOVE checking out public bathrooms, another who thinks hiding in circular clothing racks is hilarious...and wouldn't you know the banshee calls they use at home are out, out, out the door when we are in public and they have "escaped"...that's when they choose to remain quiet!

Oh, I'd love these tatoos...if only so my search could end much sooner as they show off their skin "treasure" and the "finder" can locate this mom!

so now when i say i'm going to tattoo something on their forehead... (brush teeth, close door, flush for god's sake, etc.) i can actually do it without getting arrested. YIPPEE!! definitely a good idea for those family trips.

Thanks for posting this info. I'd heard of the tattoos, but not where to find them. We went on an outing just this week with 4 moms, 1 grandma, 1 teen helper, and 11 kids. You'd think those were pretty good proportions (especially since 3 of those adults were assigned to the 3 kids in one family), but I watched as one of those kids wandered into a building and, for much longer than I was comfortable with, none of them noticed he was missing. I tried to get the grown-ups attention while watching my own 2 (who were several yards apart from one another and me). I finally told mine to stand still, got the mom to keep an eye on mine while I went to retrieve her missing one.

I know she thought I was overdoing it a bit early in the day when I yelled at my oldest to slow down because he was getting too far ahead while I brought up the rear with the little one. She pointed out that the teen helper was up front too, but I knew that teen helper was focused on another child and not mine. All it would take is my kid turning down a path while everyone else looked a different direction and he could have been one of those 2000. And the incident at the end proved to me that even when you've got one adult for each kid, if everyone assumes that "someone" is watching the other ones, you don't know what could happen.

You can never be too careful and you can't have too many back-up plans!

I would love these things! I have two and a half year old twin boys who love to take off to "look" at things whenever we are out running errands. Most places don't have carts that hold three kids (I also have a 14 month old) so inevitably one of the boys ends up walking. What a great idea!!

Wow...perfect timing. I just had that heart stopping moment w/ my 3 year old. I was carrying our tray at the mess hall at a HUGE naval hospital and looking at him every 3 seconds...of course he wandered off. I found him a few feet away looking confused.Thanks for the review!

Hi Dawn, These tattoos are such a wonderfull product. I only wish they were around when my son was younger and I would'nt have had to use that leash thing. How embarrasing that was. I will buy some for all my friends with little ones and grandchildren. Kristine in Michigan.

We are going to Disney in the fall, and these tattoos would be great to have along! I only have two boys who are 8 and 10, but as much as I trust them, anything can happen in a place like Disney! Thanks, Dawn!

What a great idea! Tattoos! I love it! Does anyone remember those wrist bracelets from the '80s that would connect a child to its mother? They were round plactic cords, like a telphone cord. My mom used those one at last two of her children. I never understood why anyone thought they worked--they were sooo easy to slip out of!This tattoo is way better!

Now how clever is this?! (and why didn't I think of that?!). I have a 4-year old who has NO sense of self-preservation - he likes to head OUT of stores by himself (ahhhh!). Even writing our number on his arm would have been a good idea... that's what Sharpies are for, right?!

Please enter me in the drawing for a free set! We could use them!:) Magseverydayplaces.blogspot.com

I have a question, tho, that has nothing to do with this. I've been trying to add your blog to my blog list and I can't. It just won't go. Any ideas why? Is it me? Your blog was the first I ever read and I love to share it with others.Thanks!

Those tattoos are an incredible idea! Here we have bracelets that you clip on with a tag on, but they can get caught or slip off and who knows what else horrible ideas i can come to think of. All it takes is a stranger with two seconds... Those tats aren't that easy to get rid of and even though I live in Sweden I hope I'm eligable for entering the contest... I will, however, check out the website and see if the ship to Sweden.Take care!

Thanks for editing your post to clue all of us clueless people in about why your faithful readers were talking about diapers. I was so confused! Then as I was falling asleep, I realized it must have been on MamasLike, but I was too tired at that point to go and check it out.~Laura

*smack in the head*This has to be one of the best ideas! Why didn't I, mom of 3, come up with it myself. I put numerous "tats" on my children, and never thought of this!!! I need this! My 3 (almost 4) year old, has speech problems, and even I cannot understand him half the time, I cannot imagine a police officer making sense of his garbled speech!!!!! I am checking this out, NOW!

The tatts are a great idea! We recently had three 3 year olds, two five year olds and a one year old here to watch our city's fireworks. I'm not sure the adults completed a sentence before the fireworks began as we were all constantly counting heads.

Thank you so much for the info on SafetyTats. My younger son had language delays and at that time was thought to be autistic. Once when he was in the backyard he locked himself out. I couldn't hear him crying but luckily one of my neighbors heard him but she didn't know he couldn't speak. It wasn't until then that I realized what could happen if he ever got lost at SeaWorld. It's such a frighting thing even with a child who can speak. I'm afraid that my other children will just forget what to say or do.

I love the idea of a saftey tat, especially for my daughter, who is autistic and a wanderer. My only problem would be getting the tattoo on her. Having the autism means that she isn't to thrilled when you restrain her, try to put an armband on her, or generally try to do anything that wasn't her idea first. I will definintely be getting some, though. Thanks for highlighting this product, Dawn!

I love this idea. my daughter has autism also. She is very verbal, but is often in her own little world, so it is hard to get information from her that may be needed in an emergency. She is also prone to "bolting" in public places, which scares me to death! She has no sense of safety or even stranger danger. I would love to have soem of these for when we go to places like the zoo or an amusement park.

Thank you for sharing these with us. I'll be ordering them as my twins will be running round, and in different directions in no time! I think I may put one on my husband so that he gets returned home if he tries to run away! LOLThanks Dawn!!! ~Ericaebrown926@gmail.com

This is wonderful! I'm moving across country in three weeks, and I'm totally relieved at this solution to my worries about losing my kids at two big huge airports. Thanks so much Dawn for putting this on your blog!

What a terrific idea! I have nightmares about my youngest daughter... She's always running off giggling so I'll chase her. You'd think that the punishment would serve as a deterrent, but no! She's impervious to everything! I hope I win, but I'm planning to place an order anyway : ) Thanks for the links : )

What a great idea! I'm going to go check if she has one for food allergies. I'm always afraid that if I get separated from my dd and someone else finds her, they'll offer her food that's not safe for her. This could really prevent that from happening.

Thank you so much for telling us about these. I have a younger brother who is deaf and has cerbral palsy. So he is unable to talk. He is always getting away from my parents at Wal-mart and places. I told my mom about these and hopefully she will orded some if not i will when i get the money. Please enter me in the drawing!!!

Hi Dawn! I just wanted to let you know that I am now totally addicted to POGO!!! Thanks a lot for the recommendation! As if I need another excuse to not exercise or get my cleaning finished!! I only stopped playing to post this comment, so I have to get back to Luau Bingo! Have a great night!

This is the coolest thing I have ever seen, I told my sister about it (she has a autistic child and a 5 year old ). Every school should have these for filed trips! and they would also be good for anyone who does things alone ( like jogging, or biking ) incase something happends .. Tami

Awesome product! We go out together with a few friends all the time. And now that all the dads are in Iraq it's even harder to keep our eyes on all 8 of our kids (when combined there are 8) we need to check these out.

LOVE that idea! I have to tell you a funny story about losing my son in a bookstore. As soon as he realized that he didn't know where I was, he walked up to some man (thankfully a nice man) and said, "I can't find my mommy." The man took him to the information desk. The lady working asked him my name, and he knew to tell her that my name is Mary, so then she asked him what I look like. My son says, "Well, she has my nose." He was about 2 1/2 at the time. He couldn't have said something useful like, "she has brown hair and wears glasses and isn't very tall."

These Safetytats are awesome. I've already added the link to my blog. I am a single mom of a 3 year old, and I'm sure 1 is better than 6 in so many ways, but 1 is easier to loose I'm sure. There isn't anyone to buddy up with. I'm ordering these for sure. Also going to get some for my niece who started kindergarden this year and is allergic to nuts. Suggetion: It would be great to have one for deaf children. I know several who would benefit from this. ASL is great, but not everyone can speak it.